The Value of Miracles
by ObeyPhoenix
Summary: After about two years of absence, Kyouko returns to Mikihatara to reunite with her with the other Puella Magi, who she'd left behind after the defeat of Walpurgisnacht. When the four girls learn of crucial secret about their contracts, one well hidden from them by Kyubey, they all vow to protect each other and do what's necessary to survive.
1. The Reappearance

"It's been a while, Mitakihara."

Overlooking the city, the scarlet-haired girl transformed out of her Puella Magi outfit into her plain clothes, if they could be called that. The zipper had broken off of her green sweater, and her shorts fit even less than before._ I probably look like a prostitute_, she mused to herself._ I guess I could steal new ones or somethin'._

She knew it would've been wiser to steal them before returning to this city, but she assumed she'd just have to make due, since her decision to return had been so rushed. As the harsh winter air cut deep into her skin, and her thoughts were quickly replaced.

_It's 2 in the damn morning. Ain't nothin' I can do right now,_ she pulled a box of pocky and a flask from her bag. _At least I can stay warm with this..._ She laughed in a way that could all but hide her shame.

After an hour of trying to keep her food in her stomach, and chasing around small animals with her spear pronouncing them "tomorrow's breakfast," she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

.-.-.-.

"Kyouko?"

The familiar voice sprung her into consciousness She sat herself up to face the girl who'd woke her from her rest.

"Sayaka?" she met the blue eyes of the girl who had awoken her. "It's been a while... How in the hell did ya find me!?"

"Homura told me she saw you. And a while? It's been about two years! Was the whole solo witch-hunting routine_ too much for you_ out there?"

Kyouko shot her a familiar fanged grin. Opening her bag to show her a surplus of grief seeds. laughing, she declared "Nah, I said I'd be back if I missed your stupid faces, didn't I, fool?"

With that, the red-haired girl turned over to her side and vomited "Dammit, ya made me waste food! An why in the hell did Homura send you to wake me up? She too good to wake me up herself?"

Much to Kyouko's displeasure, Sayaka just broke into an uncontrollable laughter.

"The hell is that for? You think this is funny or some shit?" Her face turned a light shade of green, but there was no way she'd let herself lose anymore food.

"It's just.. you finally come back.. and all you can do.. is shout stupid questions at me.. guess you haven't changed very much!" Sayaka was doing all she could do to suppress her laughter at this point. She wasn't doing a very good job of it. She paused, took a deep breath, and continued, "In ANY case, Homura wouldn't risk missing a day of class with Madoka, so she told us 'it would be best if someone came to check in on you,' and Mami has been preparing for exams so that just left me. But, man, you seem like you're in bad shape. I guess she was right!"

Kyouko nearly snapped at her for that last remark, but she stopped to look down at herself, then looked up, shooting her signature fanged grin once again, "Well I guess I do need some new clothes, and the fact that your-honorable-highness ditched school to come greet me, I should feel privileged," Sayaka rolled her eyes. "Well c'mon! You gotta show me how much the city has changed!"

.-.-.-.

Sayaka caught up with Kyouko just to notice her shoving money from an ATM into her pocket. She entertained the notion of Kyouko actually having a job somewhere and a bank account. She laughed it off the moment she pictured the red haired girl dressed similarly to Junko Kaname. "...you really need to stop stealing"

"And what would you suggest then? I put on a suit and go join the rest of the slaves? Nah, I'll enjoy my freedom," she cracked open a can of soda from her bag.

Sayaka shot her a quick glare and sighed, "Well, it looks like we have 4 hours until we have to go to Mami's apartment. Try not to cause anymore trouble and at least put that money into some fitting clothes or something. Yours look like they're ready to fall right off!"

With that, they headed into the mall, where Kyouko treated herself to new clothes: a dark blue shirt, a red jacket, and black shorts. She decided her boots still had some life in them, so she kept the excess money to buy herself some lunch. She exited the store in search of food, Sayaka trailing behind her. There was a lot of catching up to be done and questions to be answered, but it could wait until they got to Mami's apartment. For now, the company was a welcome change for Sayaka.

* * *

A/N well, I'm a bit disappointed that this chapter was a bit short, I swear they'll be longer next time. For format, three dashes(.-.-.-.) signifies a gap in time, and italics are for thoughts, in case there was confusion. This is semi-AU, based upon the PSP game best ending. And yes, the gaps will be filled in. Reviews/tips would be appreciated as this is my first story ever. (also please tell me if my colors are wrong/weird I'm colorblind and I get nervous over it)


	2. A Chaotic Gathering

Kyouko and Sakaya arrived at at the door of Mami's apartment, late, to Sayaka's displeasure. The blue-haired girl gently knocked on the door, and moments later, they were greeted.

"Welcome back, Kyouko," the blonde warmly smiled. "Come inside now, I prepared some food for us all!"

They all went and sat down at the table, which was much to Kyouko's pleasure adorned with a large cake and a tea set. Homura and Madoka were already seated, Homura carefully sipping tea and Madoka happily waiting to eat. They quickly greeted the latecomers. More or less, everyone looked relatively the same. Madoka had grown her hair quite long, but she still tied it up in pigtails with ribbon. Mami's curls had slightly loosened. Homura still wore her long, raven hair down. Sayaka was the only one who's hair was shorter, although not by much.

It had been so long since all five of them had all sat together like this. Not since before Kyouko had left.

"Well Kyouko, since you're back, there's much to be talked about," Mami chimed, "Where did you take off to, anyways?"

_I knew this would come up, dammit_ Kyouko though to herself, leaning back and lifting her arms behind her head.

"All over the country, ya know, exploring," With that, she drifted back into her memories. Memories of her departure.

.-.-.-.

The five girls were sitting around Mami's table in celebration of their victory over Walpurgisnacht.

"Things are hopefully going to be a lot easier now," Homura spoke with much-deserved relief.

"I'm so glad!" Madoka chimed.

"So, Kyouko, are you gonna return to your hometown, or will you stick around with us in Mitakihara?" Sayaka asked.

"If she does stay we'll have to get her properly enrolled into school," Mami playfully intejected.

"I don't think I can stick around here. I don't think I want to go back home though," Kyouko answered, unable to meet the gaze of the girl who had raised the question.

"What why not? Where will you go?" The blue haired girl exclaimed in confusion.

"I dunno, just.. staying here doesn't quite feel right, not yet. I'll figure something out though, don't any of you dare get worried about me! I can handle damn near anything!"

"If that's what you wish, however, a quarter of these grief seeds we got defeating Walpurgisnacht are rightfully yours. Please do take them with you in case you need them," the blonde girl insisted.

"Well how's this then, I'll take half of what's mine, and if I still can't fend for myself out there, I'll com crawling back. Or..,"

"Or what?" Sayaka asked, nervously.

"Or," Kyouko began proudly, "If I decide I miss any of your stupid faces too much, and want to try out that whole school thing, I'll come back and join ya again! Now let's finish off this food before it gets cold!"

With that, they resumed their meal in a strange silence. After they finished everything, Kyouko stood up, changed out of the uniform Sayaka had forcibly dressed her in, gathered her grief seeds into a backpack, and said her goodbyes, assuring them all that she would be safe and come back if anything went wrong.

Part of her was unsure if she would ever return. She wasn't sure of anything. After defeating the "ultimate enemy" in a _team_ Kyouko found herself more lost than ever, and walked out on the only damn people who could help her. _What in the goddamn hell am I doing!? _

She began running as far away from Mitakihara as she could.

.-.-.-.

"Did you learn anything out there? Any valuable information?" it was Homura who broke the silence.

"'Value' is a damn subjective term. I guess I have though, nothin' that'd matter to you." Kyouko sighed.

"What do you value dearly then?" Madoka naively asked the girl. Kyouko was taken aback by this, and felt a knot rising in her throat.

"Now, now everyone," Mami came to the rescue. "Kyouko's been away for quite a long time, but I think there will be plenty of time to talk to her, so there's no need to overwhelm her with questions. So for now, let's just stick to the basics and enjoy ourselves."

Kyouko sighed in relief and the conversation once again became light. She still felt like an outsider however. Before she could mentally slip away from the conversation, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey! I thought you were gonna make up for the food I 'made you' lose?" Sayaka jested, bringing her back to reality.

"You thing I forgot about that so easy? I was just...preparin' to swallow the whole cake dammit!" Kyouko, offended at being reminded of her early loss of food, quickly tackled the blue haired girl to the floor, knocking over the cake as well. The other three girls just stared at the scene for a moment, at a total loss for words.

Before long, Mami stood herself up, cleared her throat, and began to scold the two girls, "Honestly, I don't mind cleaning up but if you two are going to make that big of a mess I hope you plan on staying to help clean up."

The two girls immediately stopped and stepped away from each other, faces red with embarrassment. Sayaka began to apologize, while Kyouko burst into an awkward laughter. Madoka let out a chuckle at the scene; Homura sighed.

"I believe we should be going then," Homura spoke, outstretching her hand to Madoka, who smiled and nodded in agreement. They gave their goodbyes and headed out of the apartment.

"Now before you two get the idea in your heads, you have quite the mess to clean up before you leave!" Mami typically wouldn't have minded handling the mess herself, but with exams coming up, she could not afford to waste such time.

"Yeah, we know," they responded in unison.

"Oh and Kyouko, I know I said we'd leave the questions for another time, but if you are going to stay, you should get yourself enrolled in high school. You _did _say you would if you came back."

"Jeez let me think about it for a few days. Right now I got a floor to clean," she responded, while shoving any large chunk of cake that looked clean enough into her mouth.

"Don't eat of the floor! We're supposed to be cleaning not stuffing our faces!" Sayaka proclaimed.

"I ain't gonna waste all of this!"

"Calm down, both of you. I have studying that needs to be done," Mami interrupted before another feud could break out between them. They silently complied an began cleaning, the red-haired girl sneaking bits of cake into her mouth when she caught Sayaka looking away.

"Aaand, we're done Mami!" Sayaka announced with pride.

"Good! Thank you for taking responsibility" Mami smiled.

"I guess we should leave you to yer, uh, studying or whatever," Kyouko spoke, walking toward the door.

"Wait, if you don't have anywhere to go tonight, why not stay here?" the blonde asked, partially afraid that she might lose her friend a third time.

"Nah, I think I've bothered ya enough for one night."

Before Mami could think of something to say, Sayaka interrupted. "Well you can come over my place for tonight then. My parents are off on a business trip to Tokyo so no one would notice, and since I ditched school I don't really have to do any homework tonight. It's cold outside, so what do you say?"

Kyouko raised an eyebrow at this. _She's selling this too hard... Whatever though, I don't think she plans to kill me or anything. _"Yeah, sure. I got nothing better to do. Thanks for the food Mami. I didn't plan on wrecking your place."

"You're welcome, and goodnight."

The two girls exited the building and began walking towards Sayaka's house, Kyouko following behind.

* * *

A/N sorry for the delay on this one, I wanted it out by Thursday. My week was far busier than usual. Seriously though, thanks for all the follows and reviews, I'm taking everything you say into careful consideration. Over 100 people have read this and just wow. I was not expecting that much, or a generally positive response so thanks! But man, writing a five-person conversation is excruciatingly difficult.


	3. The Passing of Time

"Hey if you don't mind, I'm gonna take a quick bath. I'd really prefer not going to school with frosting in my hair tomorrow."

"Yeah it's cool," Kyuoko was quick to respond. "But, uh, what am I supposed ta do in the mean time?"

"Play a video game or something. I don't know. There's cable too. Look, I'm only gonna be in there for 15, maybe 20 minutes. I trust that you can keep yourself busy without breaking something or taking off to find entertainment."

"Jeez, ya act like I'm that untrustworthy, why are you even letting me in here then?" She was slightly upset by Sayaka's last comment. "I'll be fine. Nothin' will get broken or stolen or anythin' I promise."

"Good," the blue haired girl smiled. "But if you take off, I'll find you and we'll have a rematch on that fight we never got to finish long ago." Her smile changed to a smirk. She headed into the bathroom, leaving Kyouko to her own devices in the living room.

"...wait what?" Kyouko said to herself. She laughed at the threat, remembering their previous duel. _Heh. What was I even fighting for that night? Did I really have that big of a point to prove? I really was such a kid at that time, thinking I had it all figured out. And that how I was doing things was the only way. _She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on to avoid getting lost in old memories._  
_

Meanwhile, Sayaka was struggling to get the cake out of her hair.

"Stupid frosting!" she announced in frustration. After letting out a sigh, she submerged as much of her hair in the water as possible. _Stupid Kyouko, couldn't you save the antics for another day? You sure know how to make an entrance.._

.-.-.-.

Sayaka emerged from the bathroom to notice Kyouko laying upside down on the couch, watching some drama show, and surprisingly, Hitomi. Before they even ad a chance to greet her, she had dashed to her room.

"What's her deal?" Kyouko asked, looking over towards Hitomi.

"I think she's embarassed," Hitomi laughed.

"At what? We're all girls. We have public bath houses all over the country. I dun't get it," she tossed a chip in her mouth.

"Oh, that's Sayaka for you. She was the same way as a child, too."

"But the last time I was here she forced me-"

"I'm sorry for the wait!" Sayaka called, cutting off Kyouko as she emerged from her room. She had thrown on a plain white t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts. "So, what brings you here Hitomi?"

"Well the teacher asked if I me to bring you the assignments for the day. You should know by now that even if you skip school you'll still have to study and do work," she jested. "And on that note, don't forget to study for the English quiz next week!"

"I know. But not to sound rude, why didn't this get sent with Madoka or Homura?"

"They weren't in either. People thought you might all be sick with something, since you're always together."

"Wait," the blue-haired girl proclaimed in shock. "They seriously made me ditch school **so they could ditch school together?** What am I gonna do about those two?" She sighed, and let out a half-hearted laugh.

"I suppose it can't be helped," Hitomi sighed. "Although, Kyousuke's never invited me to skip school or anything. Eh, I'm pretty sure Madoka's mother is far more lenient than mine on the subject anyways... In any case, I need to be getting home now. Your papers are on the table." She waved as she walked out of the apartment.

"Ok, I'll bite," Kyouko began. "Are you two still friends after everything before or..?"

The blue-haired girl laugh in amusement. "Kyouko, it's been two years. I mean, yeah, it can be a bit awkward at times, like if she goes on about a date or something. But really, I think I'm past it all, for the most part. I guess I kinda realized that I shouldn't let it ruin our friendship. It was kinda bad at first, and with me being a magical girl there's kind of a whole world between us now, but I've worked through it all. I'm trying."

"Well that's good then. I mean it's hard, fixin' friendships and crap," memories of her old friendship with Mami and the events that followed flashed through her mind. She decided it was best to change the subject. "So er, what was that all about Madoka and Homura?"

"You see," Sayaka paused._ Is it okay to tell her? Might as well since Hitomi basically said it._ "They've kinda been, well, dating for a while."

"What?" she nearly spit out her food. "You mean ta say they're actually..? Well I guess it doesn't seem to far off judgin from what I saw of them back at Mami's. But still, damn. Is everyone okay with that sorta thing?"

"Not many people know," the blue haired girl responded. "Aside from Hitomi, Mami, myself, and now you, the only ones who know are Madoka's family. I remember they sat down with Madoka's mom to talk to her about it and they all decided it's probably best to keep it quiet until at least after high school or something like that. Junko was really cool about it though. I'd be terrified to tell my mother something like that. But it's been over a year, maybe they'll decide to be more open or something. But until then you can't say anything about it outside of those of us that know, ok?"

"Ok, I get it! Who the hell would I tell anyways?"

"True," there was a pause. Remembering Kyouko's Christian background, Sayaka spoke again. "You're uh, ok with that right?"

"'Course I am! I've been all over this damn country. Seen stranger things than that. Met a few girls like 'em too. Don't worry 'bout that."

"Good. Eh," she paused. "I have something I've wanted to tell you.."

"Huh?"

"It's just," Sayaka almost immediately regretted starting. Kyouko looked blankly at her, waiting. "I never really got a chance to thank you properly for saving me all that time ago. I probably would be dead if you haven't. So thank you, for being a hero."

Kyouko took a moment to look up at the girl talking to her. Although they had been close in height back when they met, Sayaka was now clearly the taller of the two, by a good 7-8 centimeters. Her figure had filled out a bit too, although she still wasn't on the same level as Mami. She caught herself staring, and immediately shook herself out of it.

"Eh, don't worry about that. You don't owe me anythin.'"

"Kyouko, this isn't a matter of debt. It is an honest expression of gratitude for saving my life. Please just accept it as that." Her face had turned bright red, contrasting the blue of her hair.

"Look, yer welcome. I don't really know what to say. It's not like it was planned or nothin' I just, did what I thought I had ta at the time. It's gettin' kinda late though, you should probably do that school work Hitomi brought ya before ya get tired."

Sayaka agreed, deciding that was probably best. As she sat down to do her work, Kyouko brought her attention back to the TV, with a strange fascination. Before long, Kyouko had passed out at that strange upside down angle. Upon finishing her work, she picked up Kyouko to lay her down flat. She found the red-haired girl surprisingly light, considering how much she ate. Laughing to herself, Sayaka went into her room to grab blankets and pillows. Putting one blanket under Kyouko, and a pillow under her head, she then shut the lights off. She paid her pillow down on the floor next to the couch and curled up under the blanket.

"Goodnight, Kyouko," she whispered, knowing there would be no response. She slowly let herself drift to sleep..


	4. Night Terrors

Kyouko wasn't the type of person to sleep easy at night. That is, if she slept at all. So while she was fortunate to have found sleep on Sayaka Miki's couch, it was also paired with the misfortune of her painful, haunting nightmares.

.-.-.-.

Kyouko was standing over the illuminated skyline of Tokyo. She descended from the rooftop into the busy streets. Darting through the crowds unnoticed by the inattentive passersby, she eventually reached her target, a large unruly witch barrier. Noticing the chaos inside, she transformed into her Puella Magi uniform and entered.

Slicing through hordes of strange, morbid lolita familiars, she eventually reached the center of the labyrinth where the she found the target. The witch was both extravagant and disgusting. It could best be described as a giant burn victim out of a that looked like it popped out of a _Silent Hill _game, bearing four arms and an exquisite, although tattered dress. All in violent shades of vermilion. Kyouko was distracted, however, by two magical girls fighting each other for the prey.

"Stop it!" she called out to them. "You're both going to die!" Her screams were in vain, however, as neither of the girls were willing to quit their battle. _God fuckin dammit. Is this what I get for tryin'? _She thought.

It didn't take long before the two girls turned their weapons at Kyouko. She readied her weapons and lifted a red chain link barrier around herself. The barrier proved ineffective, as the two girls continuously sliced though it every time Kyouko would raise another. She could feel the blood dripping from her arms as her hands shakily her her spear in place.

And then the loudest, earth shattering scream rang through the barrier.

Th witch had seized one of the two girls and tore her limb from limb. Kyouko had to choke back vomit at the barbaric display. Her eyes widened, and then everything went black.

.-.-.-.

Kyouko shot herself up on the couch, shaking violently. It was a few minutes until she managed to regain her composure. She didn't find herself at death's door very often, she'd kept her combat skills at their best to prevent such from happening, but when she did, it was always a terrifying thing to behold. And more often than not, it haunted her. Despite her stubborn demeanor an unwillingness to admit it, she truly feared death.

_That was when I met them, those two strange girls that saved me._ Kyouko let herself slip into the memories for a bit. _They even fed me too, man. I almost tried to kill 'em when I woke up on their floor. What had come over me?_

_.-.-.-._

Kyouko wasn't exaggerating with the word "kill" either. Upon waking up in a strange place with two strangers standing over her after a near-death experience, she wasn't exactly eager for conversation. She had instantly jumped up, transformed, and begun swinging her spear. Fortunately, she hadn't adequately healed, and couldn't keep standing long to fight. She tried supporting her weight with the spear, reaching to try and grab one of the girls, and collapsed to the ground.

"Do you think she'll be alright big sis?" the smaller girl pondered with a worried expression on her face.

"I certainly hope so Sakuya. She took quite the beating from that witch. She's just lucky we found her when we did."

Kyouko looked up in a daze. "Sayaka?"

"No, silly! It's Sakuya! And this is my big sis, Rei!" The small silver haired girl point towards her blonde sister. "We're magical girls like you, we saved you from that witch."

"Well, shit, thanks. I guess I owe ya then," the red haired girl began, while slowly limping to her bag. "Here, I'll give ya each a grief seed for the trouble."

"Don't," Rei spoke with abruptness. "We can manage together. You need whatever grief seeds you have. The one that witch dropped still wasn't enough to heal your body fully."

"Why're ya so nice?" Kyouko took a grief seed and touched it to her soul gem. "I'm alright, see? An' I still have more. I tried to kill ya both. accept it." Sakuya stared into the bag, marveled at the surplus of grief seeds.

"You'll have to excuse my sister, she's only 12 years old," the blonde spoke. She had a calm, elegant air around her, contrasting her younger sister's bubbly demeanor.

"Don't worry about it," Kyouko sifted to a smirk. "Now where can I get some good food around here?"

.-.-.-.

_It's been over a year now,_ Kyouko thought to herself._ I left one damn day too early. Those two... I never did get to repay 'em when it really mattered._ Kyouko punched herself in the head. _No more regrets, remember? _

Just as she was about to take off for a long walk to clear her mind of the memories flooding her head, she noticed the sleeping body on the floor next to where she was laying. "No more death," Kyouko whispered to herself, eyes focused on the sleeping girl next to her.

"You idiot," she mumbled, lifting the girl's body from the floor. "Ya got a bed, so use it."

While carrying Sayaka across the apartment, Kyouko caught her foot on a chair and tripped. "Shit!" She managed to catch her balance without dropping the blue-haired girl in her arms.

"Uh, Kyouko? What are you doing?" Sayaka yawned upon asking. The girl in question was fortunate for the darkness as she felt her face turn red.

"Well, uh, you were sleeping on the floor, and uh..," she forced her speech. "I just didn't want ya complaining in the morning 'cuz ya can't handle sleepin' on the floor." A stupid lie was easier than an inexplainable truth, she decided.

"Can you at least put me down then?"

Kyouko instantly became aware of the warmth against her body. She looked down at the sleepy girl she was carrying, whose pale skin seemingly glowed in the darkness. It took her a moment before she could speak again. "Uh, right."

Upon being let down, Sayaka went to the kitchen for a quick glass of water before retreating to her bedroom. Kyouko returned to her previous spot on the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

"What in the hell was I just thinking?"

* * *

A/N - Well, this was supposed to happen a bit later in the story(albeit with slight differences), but I decided that it fits way better here and adjusted it accordingly, which is why this only took me a few days from the last update to get out. Writing OCs makes me uncomfortable. Writing witch OCs is really hard. They're gonna be inevitable in this story though. Meh. Either way, I hope you all enjoy.


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